


Got a Few Souls Up My Sleeve

by tyanite



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Balthazar Mentioned, Crossroads Deals & Demons, Crowley Mentioned - Freeform, Gambling, Gen, Poker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-03
Updated: 2014-09-03
Packaged: 2018-02-16 01:58:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2251575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tyanite/pseuds/tyanite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One Human and Six Demons walk into a bar and play a game of poker. Gamble with Souls and you are bound to get burned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Got a Few Souls Up My Sleeve

**Author's Note:**

> I have forever been enchanted by the world of Supernatural, with Hunters and Demons and all sorts of other things that. So I created a cast of characters to explore more aspects of the world, without Dean and Sam. I hope you enjoy! 
> 
> Comments and Kudos are always welcome!

Crossroads Demons are interesting little buggers. They can theoretically rewrite time if they need to, perform miracles, create money out of nothing and convince thousands of people to watch talentless hacks be talentless hacks and praise them as geniuses.

They are also limited in ways other demons aren’t. For instance, in order to perform their miracles, an exchange must be made: A human soul for whatever task they are hoping to achieve. In fact, the very process of a human selling their soul to a Demon can give that Demon access to a complete wellspring of power that otherwise cannot be tapped. If it wasn’t for this exchange, a Crossroads Demon is just a regular old run of the mill, unremarkable demon.

Another limitation for Crossroads demons it that they cannot, under any circumstances, harm the human with whom they have entered an agreement with. They cannot. It is impossible, they would destroy themselves trying to kill the human that they’ve made a contract with. And after what the boss did to a particularly dim-witted demon who had recruited his friend to murder his clients, no Demon in their right (or wrong) mind would ever consider messing with a contract.

This is very important to remember. Especially when you have just walked into a room full of Crossroads Demons, like I have.

There are six Demons in the room when I enter, all wearing various meat suits and all looking various degrees of angry and delighted.

“Anyone looking for an easy soul contract?” I say before any of them can speak. They stare at me for a long moment and I’ve got that damned prickling of instinct telling me to turn and run. Run far away from the Lions Den I have wandered—willingly—into.

“What?” One of them, wearing the skin of a petite girl with a pixie cut and a nose ring says. “Do you have any idea what you’ve just walked into?”

“‘Course I do, or else I wouldn’t be offering.” I say and shift my weight slightly. I reach into the bag at my hip and pull out the rolled up piece of parchment. “I got a soul contract here, an’ it could have any of your names written on it if you hear me out.”

They all stop and stare. This is new. Humans, for good reason, don’t get their hands on their own soul contracts. Sure, a copy is written onto their soul, but the contract itself is supposed to go right downstairs. Rarely is it an immediate process.

“You’re shitting us.” Pixie-cut says finally.

“No, I ain’t. This is bona-fide.” I wave the contract in front of her.

“Whaddya want for it?” Says one of the other demons in the back. He has dark eyes and high cheekbones. I smile.

“I wanna play you for it. Poker, if you don’t mind.”

The demons laugh.

“You gotta be kidding us, human.” Another one says, smirking. She’s wearing a dress as red as sin and her lipstick matches perfectly.

 I shrug. “Fine if you don’t want it…” I turn and start to walk, pulling open my bag to replace the contract.

“Wait.” One of the demons says and I turn slowly to watch him down his drink. He has an accent, English I think. “I’m game.”

“You can count me in too.” Cheekbones says.

“Kid, your crazy.” Red says but she’s already walking over to the round table in the back.

I walk over to the table, which is now cleared and green, a perfect poker table. I put the contract on the table and pull a deck of cards from my bag as well. The other demons have slowly gravitated towards the table, drawn in by curiosity and the prospects of an easy contract. Red, Cheekbones and English all sit down. Pixie soon joins us though, and the rest all fall into place.

They look at me as I shuffle the cards, and I can see them all plotting. They are demons, they know how to cheat. And the ones who aren’t trying to figure out how to cheat me (probably because they have already landed on a plan) are staring at the contract, wondering where the catch is.

“So…” I say calmly. “We have a deal then? We play for soul contracts. Texas Hold’em, one round, winner take all. That means you gotta put in too, and don’t you say that you don’t have ‘em, I know you guys’ve got one or two hanging ‘round with you.”

You can practically hear the hiss as they all hesitate. I’ve caught them. This is a deal and if they enter into it, they are bound by the laws of their kind, even if it is unconventional.

“Deal,” growls one of them, smothering his cigarette and almost immediately replacing it with a fresh one. The end of the cigarette lights on its own accord and he takes a deep drag. A scroll appears on the middle of the table, and it’s not long before the rest of the contracts appear too.

I smile and start dealing the cards. The last demon, with hair that curled into nearly perfect ringlets, glanced at the others nervously. They were all roped in, now. The betting is fairly simple, every demon puts in a soul contract. I’ve been dealt a good hand, all four of the Queens sit pretty in my hand. None of the demons have folded out, either, but I am feeling confident.

In fact, when we all lay out our cards, it seems I am the winner. Until English lays down his flush, with the a smug smirk. My heart drops immediately, staring at his cards.

“I believe those winnings are mine.” English says, smirking, gathering up the cards.

“Oh god, no…I need that back.” I’ve gone pale.

“Haha, no way meat suit.”

“Please.” I beg, biting back the instinct to grab English’s arm. “Please, I’ll do anything. I’m dead if they find out…”

“No way.” English sounds much less amused now, edging on dangerous. “If you gamble with souls, you must be prepared to lose.”

“I’ll play you for it.” I beg.

“You don’t got anymore chips to play.” Red says, crossing her arms smugly. As much as she hated loosing, she seems to delight well enough in watching me panic and beg. “And money isn’t going to do you any good with this lot.”

“My own soul.” I say. “Please, I’ll play you for my own soul if I can just get that contract back.”

“That ain’t yours?” Cheekbones looks intrigued. “Who’zit belong to?”

“How’d you get it?” Asks Pixie.

“That is not a fair exchange, my dear.” English leans forward. “One soul contract is not worth—“

“Please,” I cut him off. Desperate. Begging.  

There is a silence.

It’s Red that finally breaks it. “What’s your name?”

I tell them. There is a nearly audible click as every Demon in the room turns to me, full on black eyes and everything. They know my name, they know what a contract with me would be worth. Suddenly, they are all ready to play another round.

English begins shuffling the cards, grinning like a madman. I’m watching carefully, because I know the risks of loosing, and I am sure as hell not ready to let any black-eyed sons of bitches get one over on me. I can feel the stares of the other Demons on me, they are practically drooling.

I’ve got all my cards on the table here.

When English has dealt us our cards, I glance down at mine and swallow.

“Okay. My soul in.”

When it comes to the betting rounds, Ringlet, Pixie and Cheekbones call my bet. When it gets to Cigarette and Red, she raises his bet up from one soul contract to three, and English raises it to five. He has the pot after all, and its clear from the greedy expression on his face, he is looking to win even greater. Of course, the others meet his bet eagerly.

“I’ve only got my soul.” I argue, my nerves in my voice. “I can’t bet no more.”

“Oh trust me, honey.” Red says with a smirk. “Your soul pulls its weight in this bet.”

I swallow hard and look back at my cards. They are all in now and the showdown begins. My heart is pounding as I’m watching them. Demon’s are practically personified lies—even Crossroads Demons, the only honest kind of Demon there is are still masters at lying.

I look down at my cards again. They look at me, then at each other. They’ve won and they know it. It’s only a matter of which among them will be the winner.

Ringlets got three of a kind, three sevens. She doesn’t look too promising, because Pixie immediately lays down her four of a kind and Cheekbones has a flush. That's when Cigarette lays down his full house, and Red has a straight. English laughs as he lays down his Flush, king, queen and jack trumping Cheekbone’s single ace.

They’ve all cheated, but only to varying degrees of success. English is practically gloating because clearly, he has gotten the upper hand on them yet again. “Amateurs.” He says and begins to reach for the pile.

That's when I lay down my cards. A Royal Flush.

English freezes, the smile half-dropped from his face as five more pairs of eyes fall onto the cards in my hand.

“I believe those winnings are mine.” I say, mocking him from earlier.

There is another moment of silence before the room erupts into pandemonium. Some of them are shouting, some look a mixture of impressed and enraged. Red sat back in her chair, seething.

“What’s a meat suit like you want with all those contracts anyways?!” Pixie cries, slamming her fists on the table, making it shake and rattle, upsetting the cards and contracts. “It isn’t right!”

“There’s an Angel, up north. He’s offering good shit for souls.” I smirk, “Better shit than black eyes got, thats for sure. Figure I’d find out if they really do got the whole halo ’n’ toga thing goin’ on.”

The Demons hiss, audibly. Its one thing to loose a contract to a human. Its a whole ‘nother cake to loose that contract to a human whose dealing with Angels. You could practically see them running through the rules in their head, looking for a way out.

“By God…” English says finally. “The Boss is going to flay us.”

All the Demons, almost simultaneously, go pale. They are going to become another series of examples: the demons who were stupid enough to gamble with humans. If a Demon could shake in its boots, all of them would be vibrating.

“Play us again.” Pixie begs, desperate. In their desperation, they have forgotten to be angry at me. They are afraid, they are terrified of me. I am the one with the power in this situation. Not even Hunters can do this to a Demon.

“You kidding me right?” I say, crossing my arms. “Jus’ ‘cause y’all are stupid enough fall fer it doesn’t mean I am.”

“Be reasonable,” English says, weakly.  

“What was that dick offering you?” Cheekbones says. “I’ll double his price.”

My eyebrow quirks up a little. “That's a pretty high bid. He’s been sellin’ heavens arsenal, if y’know what I am sayin’?”

You could have heard a pin drop in that room.

Then I relent a little. “But I like y’all.” I say finally. “You’re a real riot when it gets right down to it, and you didn’t dismiss my original gamble. So here is the deal.” They all lean forward, excitedly. “I’ll let you buy back half of your losses from the last round.”

“Half?!” Cigarettes chokes. “You gotta be kidding us.”

“Would you rather have nothin’?” I respond coolly.

Red’s an opportunist. While the others are still considering, she slides right across to me. “Fine then, sugar.” She purrs, putting a hand on my knee. “What’ll it be?”

Six Demons, six deals that are usually only once in a life time. I may as well get the essentials out of the way. “Money.” I say, smiling. “Million dollars don’t go too far nowadays, better make it five.” 

“Money.” Snorts Cigarette, darkly. “Don’t you got enough of that?”

“Oh there are plenty of things I don’t got that I want, but money is one of the ways I can get ‘em.” I say. “Besides, I’ve got to go solo sooner or later.”

“How do you want it?” Red asks, putting a hand on my cheek and adjusting my gaze back to her. “Cash? Credit? Check? Wired directly into your bank account?”

“Cash.” I say. “Don’t try gypping me out on it either, I’ll be countin’ an’ I’m still goin’ to that angel.”

“You’ll get it, every penny.” Red promises and pulls me into a kiss. When we part, I smile up at her. “Aw, Red…I’m gonna have to get your number after this.”

“Go ahead and marry her while your at it.” Pixie snaps.

“Woah, calm down there, shorty.” I say and spread my hands. “There is enough of me to go around.”  

She bares her sharp teeth.

“What else can I offer you?” Cheekbones asks finally.

“I got some health things.” I say, adjusting in my chair. “An’ I’m pretty intent on living a long human life, despite my livin’ style—“

“Say no more, meat suit.” Cheekbones snaps his fingers. “All ailments, future an’ past, gone. You’ll live you’re full expectancy. Fully healthy. You could smoke a cigar factory and still breathe clean.”

“Now that's just sweet,” I say. “Above and beyond. I’ll give you an extra contract just for that.”

Cheekbones smiles and I kiss him.

“Money, health…” Pixie says, leaning back against the table. “I bet you’ll be asking me for happiness, next.”

“Nah.” I laugh. “I can get that just fine on my own. Same goes for love. No, what I want from you is magic.”

“Magic?” Pixie raises her eyebrow.  

“What? Hogwarts wouldn’t take me.” I smirk.

She considers me for a long moment. “I don’t know how much I can give you.”

“Lets start with the Book.”

She nods slowly and suddenly the Book is sitting before me and she’s kissing me. I smile through our kiss and pull the Book closer. “Will you sign my copy?” I tease as we part but Pixie snarls and backs away.

“Alright.” I lean back in my seat, “Next I want two bottles of Goût de Diamants’ Taste of Diamond Champagne”

English snorts. “Are you bloody kidding us?”

 “I can do that.” Cigarette says, standing up.

I hesitate, looking at Cigarette.

"What?" He says, anxiety cracking his voice.

"I got a gay thing." I admit finally.

"You've got to be kidding me." He stares at me, gesturing angrily at Cheekbones. "You just kissed dimples over there!"

"'Cause he is one girly ass demon." I cross my arms. Cheekbones, Red, and Pixie snort with laughter.

Cigarettes stomps one out and growls, sitting down in a chair. "Watch the meat suit." He snaps before smoking out. Once he is out of the room, Red crosses over to his seat, sitting down on the abandoned suits lap and opens his shirt, carving something into his chest. She's off it, closing the shirt and throwing me a dazzling smile, all by the time another woman walks into the back room, the blonde bartender from the bar outside.

"That's much better, Smokestack." I say and pull her into a kiss. When we parted, Cigarette snarled at me.

“I hate pushy humans.” He growled before smoking back out of the body into the first one and immediately lit up another cigarette. The bartender blinked a few times but Pixie was already pushing the girl out of the room.

Only English and Ringlets are left. I turn to Ringlets first, though.

“Okay girl. This one’s important.”

She nods, sweetly. She’s got a quiet demeanor, enough that I almost wonder if she’s really a demon. But she is, and its all just an act for the skin she’s got.

“I want to disappear. I need to not be found, by cops, by my family, by demons or angels or any other creature, ‘less I wanna be found. That’s important, I get to choose. Got that?”

She hesitates. “I can’t do that…” She says, shifting.

“You can’t do that alone, not at our pay-grade.” English cuts in, explaining. “But two Demon’s can grant a wish that powerful, working together.”

I look at English, considering. “Fine. You two grant me that, I’ll give you your due. Do I gotta kiss both of you?”

“No.” Ringlets says and leans over, pressing her lips to mine. Its sweet, just like everything else to do with her, and I’m wondering if maybe she’s not just acting with the skin.  

“Right.” I say, smiling. English snaps his fingers and the contracts they bought back disappear, back to their respective Demons, leaving me with the rest.

Then, I gathered up my winnings and walk towards the door. “Pleasure doin’ business with y’all.” I call out, unable to resist the last taunt. “Let’s do it again sometime!”

Then I am out of the bar. I walk around to my car and carefully load everything into the back and climb in. I’ll ditch the car, soon enough. Buy myself a fancy one—black this time, I think— and make sure this one never existed.

I was less than a half hour out of dodge when English appeared in my car, laughing. I join in, slapping the wheel. It is a long time before either of us are able to stop giggling, but finally English takes a deep breath.

“Good work there, meat suit.” English says, a smile still plastered across his face.  

“I’ve never seen a group of Demons look so terrified,” I gasp once I am able to speak. “We make a good team, you and me.”

“I would say we do.” English says. “Even if you are the worst kind of human.”

“How so?” I ask, raising my voice in mock offense.

"You 'have a gay thing'?" English looks at me, a smile cracking across his face. I laugh too.

"It's more like a Bi thing, but I wanted to see if I could get him to switch meat suits just for little ol' me." I grin across the car at English. "I ain't kissing no ashtray mouth.”

“You are the most fascinating mud monkey I’ve come across. And that’s saying a lot. ” English reached over and put his hand on my knee and I bite back a shiver. "Well then, love. You are rich, healthy and invisible…Not to mention, the owner of two bottles of the worlds most expensive champagne. What more could a human like you want? What else do you want to do, dear?”

I meet his eyes, pulling him closer to me by his tie. “I want to do it all again.” I breath against his skin, smiling. “I want to gain the confidence of ever demon in the pit and pull the wool over their eyes, I want to pull our scams till the end, and I want to walk away laughing. I want it all. ” He smiles back and presses his lips to mine.

“As you wish.”

**Author's Note:**

> Ooh, surprise twist!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed. I may be posting more stories with this wonderful cast eventually.


End file.
